Force told to improve 999 call handling following Costessey deaths

Police at the scene in Allan Bedford Crescent in Costessey, where four bodies were found. Picture date: 19/20 January 2024 Credit: PA
Police at the scene of four deaths in Costessey near Norwich. Credit: PA

A police force has been told it must improve how it responds to emergency calls involving vulnerable people, following the deaths of four people near Norwich.

The inspector's findings come after the suspected murder-suicide of four family members at a home in Costessey on 19 January.

Bartlomiej Kuczynski, 45, his daughters Jasmin Kuczynska, 12, and Natasha Kuczynska, eight, and their aunt Kanticha Sukpengpanao, 36, all died of stab wounds.

Police later revealed that Mr Kuczynski had made a distressed call to police an hour before their bodies were found, which they did not respond to.

Following the tragedy, an inspection into how the force handles and responds to 999 calls was commissioned by the police and crime and commissioner for Norfolk.

The report has found the force was not always able to identify vulnerable people or provide the level of response needed to keep them safe.

Almost 500 emergency calls were reviewed by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS).

Areas of concern raised by the report:

  • Information gathered through the call handling system was not recorded consistently.

  • Some control room staff had not received the relevant training to help them correctly identify and respond to vulnerable people during calls.

  • Incident responses were sometimes downgraded without being reassessed or without supervisory oversight.

Four family members were found dead at a house in Costessey near Norwich.

Roy Wilsher, His Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary, said: “We found that Norfolk Constabulary’s call handlers provide a high level of service to the public.

"However, we found some areas that need to be improved. This is particularly relevant to the identification of, and response to, those that are vulnerable.

“The force must make sure it has robust quality assurance measures in place to ensure processes are consistent, and it should provide staff with relevant training to help them to correctly identify vulnerable people.

“The force’s new approach to risk assessment and the introduction of the Right Care Right Person model will help formalise the working arrangement that the force has with other agencies.

"The result will be that incidents that aren’t police matters are dealt with by the most appropriate agency.”

Responding to the report, Chief Constable Paul Sanford said: “We accept the findings around inconsistencies in how information is recorded for calls relating to vulnerable people and that this doesn’t always happen.

“We have already taken steps to address this through our work to implement the Right Care Right Person (RCRP) initiative, which has seen changes to our systems in the control room, which means call handlers will have to record details for such calls in the future.

“As announced earlier this week, we are launching the RCRP initiative Wednesday (29 May). The findings from this report provide further evidence that this is the right thing to do and that the public will receive an improved service, which also goes some way to address issues identified in this report.”

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